1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to apparatuses and methods for practice and evaluation of musical performance of chords being played by users, and particularly to user-friendly chord performance training systems that assist the users to practice musical performance of chords under evaluation and allow the users to select tunes for practice based on evaluation results. Specifically, this invention relates to methods of musical tone synthesis, performance information selection, performance control and evaluation to suit to practice of musical performance of chords. In addition, this invention also relates to recording media storing programs and data that implement the methods suited to the practice of musical performance of chords.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that personal computers install application programs for use in practice of musical performance of chords. The application programs (namely, music application software) cause the personal computers to reproduce musical performance information representing examples (or models) of musical performance of plural parts containing chord parts. On the basis of performance information (namely, model performance information) of the chord parts, chords to be performed by the users (or keys to be depressed by the users) are sequentially designated by a display or indicators using light-emitting diodes (LEDs), for example.
The aforementioned music application software allow the users to arbitrarily designate actually played parts which are to be actually played within the parts being reproduced. That is, it is possible to produce sounds corresponding to only the chord parts within the performance information, or it is possible to produce sounds corresponding to other parts other than the chord parts. In addition, the users are able to operate keyboards during reproduction of the performance information in progress. In that case, input performance information is produced in response to user""s operations of the keyboard and is compared with the model performance information. Thus, the software evaluates skills of the users in playing musical performance in consideration of a degree of match (or conformity) being calculated between the input performance information and model performance information. Incidentally, the users are capable of recording the input performance information on some media (e.g., magnetic recording media, etc.) at any time.
However, the conventional technology suffers from various problems, which will be described below.
The conventional system allows the users to designate the actually played parts within the reproduced parts. However, it is troublesome for the users to make specific setting for selective determination as to whether sound is to be actually produced or not with respect to each of the parts. Normally, beginners of musical performance seldom know detailed contents of the parts. Therefore, it is very difficult for the beginners to make adequate setting for the selective determination as to whether the sound is to be actually produced or not with respect to each of the parts.
If there exist plural tunes that are reproducible, it may be convenient for the users to select the tunes based on evaluation results of performance that is made in the past. However, there are conventionally no systems that allow the users to select the tunes based on the evaluation results of performance in the past.
Some of the tunes contain difficult chords that require highly sophisticated techniques in playing. In some cases, the users, particularly the beginners, wish to play the tunes containing the difficult chords. Practically, before playing those tunes containing the difficult chords, the beginners need practice on other tunes constructed by simple chords that can be played with ease as compared with the difficult chords. However, it takes a relatively long time for the beginners to practice on those tunes of the simple chords, which would be disincentive to the beginners in practice of musical performance of chords.
Conventionally, so-called xe2x80x9csoftware sound sourcesxe2x80x9d are well known to reproduce musical tone waveforms on the personal computers by the software. Normally, the software sound sources provide some time lags in actual generation of musical tones after depression of keys by the users. It is expected that the personal computers would have functions to evaluate musical performance being played by the users. Even if the personal computers actualize the functions of evaluation of musical performance, the users may have feelings of wrongness due to the time lags inherently caused by the software sound sources. Conventionally, engineers do not particularly propose measures for elimination of the time lags of the software sound sources.
As described before, the users are capable of recording input performance information on media by performing prescribed operations on the personal computers or else. However, the personal computers installing the conventional music software merely allow the users to unconditionally record the input performance information on the media. Hence, it is hard for the users to realize achievement in improvement of skills in musical performance by recording.
It is not always preferable that the input performance information normally match with the model performance information. That is, the users are not always required to accurately play the chords as designated by the model performance information, in other words, it is preferable that some of the chords are being played in inversion, regardless of designation of the model performance information. If the users play xe2x80x9cinverted chordsxe2x80x9d which differ from original chords of the model performance information in pitch, the conventional system evaluates the users to incorrectly play the chords. Namely, the conventional system has difficulties in adaptively and adequately evaluating skills of the users in playing musical performance of chords.
It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and a method for practice and evaluation of musical performance of chords, which is realized in a form of a user-friendly chord performance training system that assists users to practice musical performance of chords and that provide adequate and adaptive evaluation on skills of the users in playing musical performance, so that the users are capable of adequately selecting tunes for practice based on evaluation results for performance made in the past.
This invention provides a chord performance training system which is realized on a personal computer having a display and a keyboard in accordance with music application software. The display provides a user with three types of windows on a screen, namely a main window for displaying chord progression, a select window for displaying a list of genre names for selection and a score window for displaying a score. On the select window, the user selects a specific single genre name to activate model performance information containing chord parts, a percussion part, a chord text and a song text, so that the main window shows chord progression representing chord names and generation timings of chords, which are to be sequentially played by the user and are updated. The user plays the keyboard to produce input performance information while watching the chord progression being displayed on the main window based on the model performance information. The select window shows histograms in connection with the genre names respectively, wherein each of the histograms shows a score being marked in the past for the input performance information made by the user out of ten grades in comparison with the model performance information, whereas the score window shows a highest point of score being marked for the user in the past out of a hundred. Multiple sets of model performance information are provided to suit to different levels, namely a beginners"" level and an expert level, which are set to the user in playing chord performance on the keyboard.
When the user plays a chord on the keyboard with reference to the model performance information suited to a desired level, a key-depression pattern is produced to designate notes of depressed keys within prescribed twelve notes corresponding to one octave of the keyboard as input performance information and is compared with a chord pattern that represents prescribed notes of the chord corresponding to prescribed keys which should be simultaneously depressed within the prescribed twelve notes. Thus, the input performance information is evaluated by marking a score in consideration of a degree of match being detected between the key-depression pattern and chord pattern within an allowable time range (e.g., 300 msec).
The system provides two operation modes, namely a solo mode and a mute mode. In the solo mode, the system initiates reproduction on the chord parts and percussion part, so that the user is capable of playing chords on the keyboard while watching the chords being sequentially displayed and updated on the main window and listening to percussion sounds being reproduced based on the percussion part. This allows the user to easily play the chords with rhythm and time being sensed by the percussion sounds. In the mute mode, the system initiates reproduction on other parts other than the chord parts. Incidentally, the system allows the user to initiate or inhibit generation of musical tones of chords and/or percussion sounds according to needs.